Dr. Glenn Hutchinson is the interim director at FIU’s Center for Excellence in Writing. He earned a Ph.D in Rhetoric and Composition from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Dr. Hutchinson teaches the peer-tutoring course, Processes of Writing (ENC 3491) at both FIU campuses and enjoys writing about service-learning and the rights of undocumented students. He also writes plays and acts, many of which have gone on to be performed at local theaters. We talk with him this week about writing, film, theater, and everything in between.

A few weeks ago, we asked you all which films you were looking forward to watching this summer. The votes are in and in a surprising turn of events, we have a three-way tie between Alien: Covenant, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and Wonder Woman. This tie proves that we simply can’t choose between the wide selection of films coming out in the coming weeks!

Since 2004, Dr. Frank Luca has split his time as a professor of History at FIU and Chief Librarian at The Wolfsonian. He received a Ph. D. from FIU in 2005 with a focus on Ethnohistory and Colonial Latin America. He has successfully fused his passion for both American history and film with his courses on America and Movies (AMH 3317).

Hoping to satisfy your thirst for cinematic knowledge and meet a successful filmmaker?

This Friday the Speaking in Cinema series at Miami Beach Cinematheque will host filmmaker Albert Serra at its screening of his latest film, The Death of Louis XIV. The historical film explores the family life of King Louis XIV in his final moments. After the screening Albert Serra will discuss this and his other works with critic & filmmaker Yonca Tala.

The Miami Beach Cinematheque’s Speaking in Cinema Series was developed and supported by a grant from the Knight Foundation in 2013 to provide a richer appreciation of cinema through a string of conversations focusing on filmmaking styles led by local filmmakers and professional critics. The brainchild of the Cinematheque’s director, Dana Keith, Speaking in Cinema happens a few months throughout the year during which the selected hosts and guest have an interactive conversation with the audiences, which allows all parties to understand and analyze cinema not only as an art but also its own meta-language which goes beyond sampling entertainment.

The series started as a two year program but due to its success was expanded to an continual series. To date Speaking in Cinema‘s eleven installments have featured works from professionals such as Daniel Patrick Carbone, Brontis Jodorowsky, Benoit Debie, and Harmony Korine.

Finally, Your Name is getting its official Western release this April, with cinemas screening both the original Japanese audio with subtitles and a new English dub. Your Name is an anime body-swap love story from Japanese writer and director Makoto Shinkai that took the world by storm in 2016. A critical and commercial success, the film went on to earn more than $328 million worldwide, unseating long-time classic Spirited Away as the highest-grossing anime film of all time.